Designing for Predictability

Predictability
is a critical key to any design. If a map requires a specific
behavior, then the forger must be capable of guaranteeing that
behavior, lest the map eventually break during game play. Predictability
is the ability to know what rules apply and what results are
guaranteed for each set of circumstances.A Forger Must Know His Tools

Bungie has handed forgers a set of tools to forge maps with. The forger
must understand how to use those tools and what those tools will
produce for them. Understanding exactly what each tool will yield in the
form of game play experience will enable the forger to use the correct
tool for each job.

But this doesn’t mean that the forger has to know the code level
detailed workings of each tool. For example, the forger does not need to
know how the spawn engine works at each nut and bolt under the hood.
To establish a solid level of predictability, the forger must simply
understand the intended uses for each tool and how to use them fully,
properly, and effectively to achieve those intended uses.

An Example – Limiting A Team’s Respawn Area

If you want the blue team to respawn exclusively on the north half of a
map, you would never cover the north half of the map with the Weak
Respawn Zone for the purpose of achieving that goal. If you did that,
you would fail. That is not the right tool. It was not designed to
guarantee regional spawning of a specific team.

Instead, you would use the Respawn Zone (referred throughout the
remainder of this document as Strong Zone). It was designed specifically
with this intended use in mind. It is the proper tool for this job.
Using the Strong Zone can be used to form a solid guarantee that the
team it is assigned to will only spawn within the zone.
Knowing A Tool’s Requirements

To continue along the lines of the previous example, there are some
factors to consider when using a Strong Zone. Respawn Points must be
laid out on the map to prevent line of sight (LOS) from overcoming the
Strong Zone. The Stock Pile Drop Zone must not extend a team’s Strong
Zone region over Respawn Points that are not intended to be included in
the team’s Strong Zone. And the layout of Respawn Points within the
Strong Zone must ensure that regardless of any game time combination of
simultaneous obstructions of the Respawn Points, enough of them will
always remain available to respawn the entire team if necessary. Then,
when all factors are taken into account and properly designed into the
map, the forger can be certain where a player will always and will never
spawn on the map. This is predictability.

We Know Enough Today

As we saw in the example above, predictability does not require knowing
specific weights created by each and every influencer, or how many
times a Strong Zone is stronger than a Weak Respawn Zone. While even I
have argued that Bungie must give us every bit of detail we could ever
think of, these arguments have proven hollow to the practical
application of the tools themselves. The only thing that a forger must
learn is what tools are available to him, what they were intended to
accomplish, and what each tool requires (if anything) to function to its
fullest potential. With that – and only that – information, the forger
can then apply the tools appropriately and fully guarantee the game
play experiences that they desire to achieve.

A Much Different Example – The Weak Respawn Zone

A Weak Respawn Zone adds very little weight to the Respawn Points
within it. For this reason, there is no guarantee that those Respawn
Points will be selected by the spawn engine. But that type of guarantee,
as we saw earlier, is provided by another tool. The Weak Respawn Zone
does not force or confine the respawn of players, but it favors their
respawn.

This favoring is actually not random. If no dynamic influencers are
present, the Respawn Points within the Weak Respawn Zone will be used
every time over those outside the zone, simply because their weight is a
little higher. Introduce dynamic influencers, and Weak Respawn Zones
give the game play experience of “favoring” those Respawn Points within.
The predictive model would simply state that a player has a greater
affinity to respawn in the Weak Respawn Zone than outside it. Knowing
this, the forger can utilize the Weak Respawn Zone over areas where he
would prefer they spawn, but allow the spawn engine to use other Respawn
Points when necessary.

Some
people may say that this is not predictability at all. But remember,
making an outcome predictable is making an outcome occur to a degree
that we want to have it happen, not necessarily have it happen every
time. If we want a specific outcome to be a team to respawn within a
zone every time, then the correct tool is the Strong Zone. If we want a
specific outcome to be a team to respawn within a zone more often, but
let the spawn engine choose when it considers the area too dangerous
(due to negative influencers), then the Weak Respawn Zone becomes the
correct tool.Summary

Learning what the various tools are for and how they were intended to
be use will help the forger apply them correctly and effectively. This
in turn will give the forger the ability to form predictive modeling of
the game play with complete accuracy. Some predictions will be hard
guarantees. Others will be generalizations of how the game play will
flow. But they are all predictions that can be shown accurately
demonstrable during game play – every time.